2026 Artist Statement

I work with the medium of cardboard to create abstract three dimensional forms.  Cardboard is utilitarian, mundane, ephemeral and impermanent. It can be manipulated into multiple shapes unencumbered by rules or pre-destined patterns.  Each piece demonstrates how an object that is usually discarded into waste can be reimagined and transformed into a piece of art. What is full of scars has beauty within. My works can emerge from a wall, descend from the ceiling or rise from the floor.

As I work the cardboard I feel a deep connection with the way the form is evolving, as if I am being re-formed along with it. The result is an enduring entity that occupies space with emotion and expression, that hides and reveals, holds darkness and still shines. I begin my process with a flat piece of cardboard. The interplay of the interior corrugation and outer surface provides a conversation between what is hidden and what is revealed. I soften the cardboard with water, fold and roll the edges, and push and pull at the form to allow it to flow in waves. The cardboard is cut from its original square or rectangle into a more sensual shape. Sections of the outer covering are stripped to reveal areas of corrugation, and some are left intact or hang freely. The cardboard is left natural, or colored with acrylic or wood stain.  I allow the work to stay wild and imperfect, naked, damaged and chaotic. I want each piece to exist as scarred, imperfect and beautiful. The torn corrugated cardboard carries a powerful contradiction. Cardboard is humble, disposable, associated with protection and precarity, yet here it’s layered, armored, and made monumental. That tension gives the work emotional weight.

The works that stand on the floor are inspired by the ancient Israelite practice of creating sacred posts (Asherot in Hebrew) that were regarded as offering protection and abundance. The Asherot were also referred to as the feminine consort of God. Approximately 2500 – 3000 years ago they were an integral part of Israelite religious life.  

In my work I seek to reclaim this symbol as our desire for wholeness, to feel the fullness of life, of bringing the transcendent divinity down to earth so we can feel a sacred presence in our grounded lives. The Asherot stand proudly announcing their presence, inspiring us to feel the power of embracing, expressing and sharing all parts of ourselves. 

Making these Asherot from cardboard ground them back to their original form in being created from trees. They appear tree-like and appear to rise organically from the earth and at the same time feel other worldly. My hope is that as one gazes on these Asherot they begin to feel a connection to all that is both fragile and divine in our earthly bodily existence. 

My work with cardboard is informed by my experience as a psychological counselor, rabbi and chaplain. I was privileged to be with people at their most difficult and intimate moments and to see how life’s inevitable confrontation with pain, loss and grief exist side-by-side with love, compassion, beauty and the desire to connect with the sacred within oneself and the divinity that surrounds us. 

This exhibition would include wall mounted and works that rise out of the floor. The floor pieces would be situated around the room to allow visitors to walk around and between them while also gazing at large wall mounted pieces. This will create a powerful interaction where the viewer could infer conversations between pieces, and experience both the scarred fragility and the powerful beauty of each work.